3 dogs still recovering from last month's poisonings

By Alex Burness, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
05/14/2014 11:19:22 AM MDT

Updated:
05/14/2014 10:11:37 PM MDT

Brandon Weil helps his dog, Amos, out of his car on April 15 during a visit to the Indian Peaks Veterinary Hospital in Boulder. Amos is one of the three dogs that were sickened after eating poisoned meatballs left in a Gunbarrel park last month. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera)

A fundraiser will be held Saturday in an effort to increase the reward — currently standing at $4,625 — for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible for poisoning three Gunbarrel dogs in April with toxic meatballs.

The event will run from 2 to 5 p.m. in the same unnamed neighborhood park where the dogs were poisoned April 14 after they ingested parts of the 10 meatballs that have since been recovered there.

"With the fundraiser, I felt it was really important in a way to sort of stand up to this person, whoever did it," said Sunny Monaco, one of the event's organizers and the owner of a chocolate Labrador retriever who licked and possibly ate one of the meatballs.

If you go

What: A fundraiser to increase the reward for information leading to the arrest of the party responsible for poisoning three dogs with toxic meatballs

When: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: 5150 Buckingham Road, Gunbarrel

Cost: Free

The event will include games for adults, children and dogs, as well as a raffle and a silent auction.

"It's important to increase the reward money," Monaco said. "I just would like someone to come forward and take responsibility for these actions."

Monaco added that she'd like to get the total reward up to $10,000 by the end of the fundraiser.

If the culprit is not found, the money will be donated in equal shares to the Humane Society branches of Longmont and Boulder Valley.

So far, there are no known suspects, as the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, which is handling the case, has reported no leads.

A spokeswoman there has said investigators are waiting on the results of DNA tests at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Those findings were expected to be made available about three weeks ago.

Last week, a series of tests by Colorado State and Texas A&M universities revealed that the specific toxic agent in the meatballs was brofidacoum, a commonly used pesticide and an active ingredient in the rat poison d-Con.

Meanwhile, Monaco's dog and the two others infected — a 6-month-old golden retriever and a 12-year-old beagle — are all in recovery.

The owner of the golden retriever, Uli Bromme, said she's fortunate to have started her dog, Amos, on a vitamin K regimen not long after the original infection.

"He's his normal puppy self for the most part," she said, adding that Amos will have bloodwork done this weekend to determine whether he's made a full recovery.

Monaco's dog, Gybz, is doing well, too, though he did have a brief and scary relapse, in which Monaco recalls thinking her dog might die.

"I'm glad he's better now, but there was this one moment when I thought, 'Oh my God,'" she said. "When you see that and you know someone did this intentionally to your dog, you really want them to be caught."

The beagle's owner could not be reached for comment.

Bromme and Monaco, however, said they see the fundraiser as an opportunity to send a message of resilience to whoever left the poisoned meatballs at the park.

"I'm definitely more paranoid now," Bromme said, "but I would like to make this person see that we're still going to take our dogs to that park."

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